As welding processes become increasingly complex, the monitoring of these processes has become more and more challenging. Voltage and current are precisely controlled to achieve an optimal weld based on work piece characteristics, welding environment, and the anticipated use of the final product. According to complex welding control programs, supplied voltage and/or current are varied at high frequency and as such require monitoring techniques capable of capturing such high frequency changes. One method for compiling complex weld programs is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,278,390, which is assigned to the assignee of the present application, and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. An example of a voltage waveform generator that is capable of regulating welding supply voltage to match a target waveform is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,064,290, which is assigned to the assignee of the present application, and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. In addition, the characteristics of each weld may vary from work piece to work piece due to feedback control of the weld process. Therefore it is beneficial to monitor weld data from each work piece and handle the relatively large quantities of data that are generated in an efficient manner.
The acquisition of data from welding processes is necessary in many situations. For example, during the development of a new weld control algorithm, the weld engineer will monitor the current, voltage, and other weld parameters to glean helpful insight into the operation of the welding system. The weld data also and provides information about the nature of the weld being achieved during execution of the control algorithm. In many industries, such as the aerospace industry, it is becoming increasingly common for manufacturers collect and archive weld data for each weld performed during the production of components. The weld data is associated with a given component serial number. The weld data may be accessed and analyzed later in the event that a weld anomaly is observed in a given component. The weld data may be correlated with weld data from previously manufactured components as part of a quality control program.
With the improvements in the programmability and control of welding systems, it has become advantageous to be able to remotely control one or more welding systems with a centralized weld controller. Weld data from these welding systems would also then need to be collected by the remote weld controller. An example of a welding system that employs a remote weld controller to control a plurality of welding systems is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,624,388, which is assigned to the assignee of the present application, and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.